While the U.S. National Soccer Team, buoyed by a massive host country advantage, was not expected to go much further than it already had in the 2026 FIFA World Cup, no one expected that they would get KO'd the way they did against Belgium in the knockout round of 16.
To suffer a defeat in athletic competition is one thing, but when it reaches the point of total domination and ultimate embarrassment, it becomes something that gets infamously earmarked in history and painfully remembered for some time to come.
Oklahoma football fans can certainly commiserate with what U.S. soccer fans are feeling after Team USA's humbling 4-1 loss to Belgium that eliminated the Americans from the enormously popular quadrennial worldwide soccer tournament. Even the best of Sooner football teams have endured some devastating defeats.
It seems almost antithetical that the horrific losses would be embedded in our minds longer than many of the greatest victories on record, but that, inexplicably, is just the way it is. When you are a program that has been as successful for as long as Oklahoma has in college football, the championships and great victories will always well outnumber the horrific losses, but it is the latter that manages to stick with us and in our craw the longest.
It is important to note that in identifying and ranking the five games I believe represent the most devastating Oklahoma football defeats of the past 50 years, the margin of defeat was not the primary criterion for what constituted a bad loss. There were multiple years in which bad Oklahoma teams were pummeled into submission on the gridiron. The factor I was looking at the most in coming up with a top-five list was the lasting impact of the loss, both at the time and as part of OU football history.
Devastating losses that still stick with the Sooners
5. Kansas 28, Oklahoma 11 -- Oct. 27, 1984
Oklahoma was ranked No. 2 in the country and a 22-point favorite going up against a 2-5 Kansas team in late October of 1984. A true freshman named Troy Aikman got the start at quarterback for the Sooners in place of the injured Danny Bradley. Unfortunately, the vaunted OU Wishbone offense was never able to get untracked that day, producing just 168 total yards (115 rushing and 48 passing) on 68 plays. Aikman didn't help his own cause, either, throwing three interceptions.
OU also lost two fumbles and had a punt blocked in the game. The six Sooner turnovers contributed to 18 Kansas points in a 28-11 Jayhawk victory. Kansas outgained Oklahoma 220 to 168. The Sooners would lose just once more that season, falling to No. 4 Washington, 28-17, in the Orange Bowl.
4. Arkansas 31, Oklahoma 6 -- Jan. 2, 1978 (Orange Bowl)
As No. 2 Oklahoma took the field to face No. 6 Arkansas in the 1978 Orange Bowl, the Sooners were aware that No. 1 Notre Dame had lost to Texas in the Cotton Bowl earlier in the day. That meant that an OU win over the Razorbacks would likely elevate OU to the top spot in the final Associated Press and Coaches Poll rankings. If that wasn't enough motivation, Arkansas head coach Lou Holtz had suspended three players for the Orange Bowl game, including two offensive starters who were responsible for 78% of the Razorbacks' points during the regular season.
Arkansas had been an 18-point underdog coming into the game, but after it became known that three Razorbacks had been suspended for the game, the line went to 24 points favoring the Sooners.
Oklahoma received the opening kickoff, and on the third play of the game, All-American running back Billy Sims fumbled inside the OU 10-yard line. Arkansas immediately cashed in, scoring a touchdown to take a 7-0 lead that the Razorbacks never relinquished. Arkansas led 14-0 after one quarter and 24-0 after three quarters. OU finally broke through for a touchdown in the fourth quarter, but by then the Sooners' fate had been sealed. Arkansas running back Roland Sales rushed for 205 yards and a couple of touchdowns, an Orange Bowl record at the time, in place of suspended starter Ben Cowins.
The Razorbacks overcame their 24-point underdog status with a 25-point, 31-6 victory. Oklahoma head coach Barry Switzer called it "the most disappointing loss of my career."
Notre Dame held on to its No. 1 ranking despite the Cotton Bowl loss to Texas, and Arkansas jumped up to No. 3 in the final AP national rankings. The Sooners, who had their eye on the top spot, dropped to No. 6 in the final rankings.
3. Boise State 43, Oklahoma 42 -- Jan. 1, 2007 (Fiesta Bowl)
The 2007 Fiesta Bowl showdown between mid-major little giant Boise State and longtime national power Oklahoma is cited by many as one of the greatest college football games ever played. In retrospect, it will also go down as one of the most emotionally impactful games in Sooner football history.
It was a no-win matchup from Oklahoma's perspective. The Sooners were expected to win, albeit by only a slim margin, so no big takeaway there, but a loss would be viewed as one of the biggest upsets in recent times in college football and a clear triumph the likes of David over Goliath.
Boise State struck first, and early and often, scoring 14 points in the first six minutes of the game. Oklahoma cut the lead to just four points early in the second quarter, but the underdog Broncos scored a touchdown just before halftime to take a 21-10 advantage to the locker room. Both teams added touchdowns in the third quarter, giving Boise State a 28-17 advantage entering the fourth quarter. And that's when things really got interesting.
A total of 37 points were scored over the final 1:26 in regulation and overtime, including three iconic trick plays. The Sooners came from 18 points down, at 28-10, to tie the score at 28 with a little less than 90 seconds to go in regulation. An interception returned 34 yards for a touchdown by OU's Marcus Walker actually gave Oklahoma a 35-28 lead, it's first in the game, with 1:02 left in regulation.
Faced with 4th-and-18 on the Oklahoma 42-yard line and just :07 remaining on the clock, it appeared that Oklahoma was going to magically survive. Boise State, on the other hand, was not to be denied. Bronco quarterback Jared Zabransky perfectly executed an old-school hook-and-ladder play for a touchdown as time expired, tying the score and sending the game to overtime.
That set the stage for one of the most dramatic finishes in recent college football history. After Oklahoma had gone up 42-35 on a 25-yard touchdown run on the first play of the overtime session, Boise State responded with a halfback pass to an open Derek Schouman in the end zone to bring the Broncos within one, 42-41.
It appeared the game was headed for a second overtime, but Boise State opted to go for a two-point conversion to end the game. And we all know what happened after that. A third Boise State trick play, a Statue of Liberty handoff from Zabranksy to running back Ian Johnson, resulted in a successful two-point conversion to win the game and send immediate shock waves through the Sooner Nation and throughout the college football world.
A defeat that easily will go down not only as one of the most devastating in recent Oklahoma football history, but clearly the most dramatic.
2. USC 55, Oklahoma 19 -- Jan. 4, 2005 (Orange Bowl)
Oklahoma's appearance in the 2005 BCS National Championship Game against USC marked the Sooners' third national championship game appearance in five years. USC and OU were ranked Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, the entire season. Both teams entered the game with perfect 12-0 season records, so it appeared to be the perfect matchup to decide the national championship.
The Sooners scored first in the game on a five-yard touchdown pass from Jason White to Trent Wilson early in the first quarter. Unbeknownst to OU fans at the time, that would be one of the very few Sooner highlights in the game, with USC scoring 52 of the next 55 points in the game.
By the time the fourth quarter began, the Trojans were out in front 55-10, and the capacity crowd that started out the game at the Orange Bowl in Miami had been reduced to a half-empty stadium. The Sooners had no defensive answer for USC's Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Matt Leinart and All-American teammates Reggie Bush and LenDale White. USC totaled 525 yards of offense with Leinart throwing for 325 yards and an Orange Bowl record five touchdowns and White adding 118 rushing yards along with a couple of rushing touchdowns.
What made the Sooner defensive lapse against USC even more astounding was that Oklahoma had not given up a touchown in its last three regular-season games.
Oklahoma aided the USC effort and contributed to its own demise by committing five costly turnovers.
"We just got whipped," Sooner head coach Bob Stoops said after the game. "You really soul search as a coach how this could happen."
1. Texas 49, Oklahoma 0, Oct. 8, 2022
A loss against any team is unacceptable by Oklahoma football standards, but a loss to chief rival Texas carries considerably more weight. In an unusual 2022 matchup between these two longtime Red River rivals, both teams came to the Cotton Bowl in Dallas on the second weekend in October unranked in the national polls and with five losses between them.
A game-time decision ruled Oklahoma starting quarterback Dillon Gabriel out for the game with lingering concussion symptoms from the week earlier. That meant Pittsburgh transfer Davis Beville would step in to the starter's role, his first as a Sooner.
It was not a particularly good omen that Davis had struggled after taking over for Gabriel following his injury the week before against TCU. Offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby knew he was probably going to have to get creative in the play-calling and use multiple Wildcat formations, snapping the ball directly to a running back or tight end.
Predictably, without Gabriel, the Oklahoma offense found itself in neutral most of the afternoon. The Sooners generated just 195 yards of offense with just 39 through the air. That was not the case for the Texas offense, however, which rolled up 585 yards of offense en route to a 49-0 whitewashing of its hated rivals.
Read more: Sooners post-spring 2026 schedule prediction sets up Red River Rivalry revenge
As usual, the 92,100-seat Cotton Bowl was filled to the brim at the start of the game with half a stadium of fans decked out in the Texas colors of burnt orange and Oklahoma crimson over the other half, equally split at the 50-yard line. The Sooner side began emptying long before the game ended.
"Shock? Nothing shocks me," OU head coach Brent Venables said after. "This game will punish you when you don't do all kinds of different things, whether its coaching or playing."
The 49 points scored by Texas are the most ever scored against Oklahoma in the 121-game history of the rivalry series. It also is the only time the Sooners have been shut out since suffering a 29-0 loss to Texas A&M in the 1998 season.
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